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Anna Maria, Gräfin und Landgräfin von Fürstenberg

1634–1705

Born
12 Sep 1634, Constance
Country of birth
Prince-Bishopric of Konstanz, today Germany
Died
1 Jan 1705, Prague
facts
7
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Constance

    Birth, Constance

  2. Child born: Countess Maria Anna of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort

    Birth, Düsseldorf

  3. Died · Prague

    Death, Prague

What was it like?

The world around Constance, 1634: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

During the Thirty Years' War, men's fashion shifted toward comfort, featuring high-waisted doublets and wide, knee-length breeches that fell in loose folds. Soldiers and educated men alike popularized large leather boots that reached above the knee, which were often worn turned down or slouching.

Fashion

Men's fashion favored comfort and leather boots

During the Thirty Years' War, men's fashion shifted toward comfort, featuring high-waisted doublets and wide, knee-length breeches that fell in loose folds. Soldiers and educated men alike popularized large leather boots that reached above the knee, which were often worn turned down or slouching.

Around 1626–1626

Bavarian laws restricted everyday clothing materials

In 1626, Bavarian law strictly forbade common people, laborers, and farmers from wearing expensive fabrics like crimson-dyed cloth, gold or silver trimmings, or silk ribbons. Farmers were instead directed to use domestic wool, sheepskin, or calfskin and were permitted only simple linen collars without lace or fringe.

Music

Regulated Wedding Celebrations

Weddings were the most significant lifetime celebrations, with music, guest lists, and food heavily regulated according to the social status of the families involved.

Versatile Town Instruments

Town musicians often played versatile instruments like the cornett, a wooden instrument with a sweet, singing tone, which was used for indoor and outdoor performances.

Getting around

River Travel Was Often the Fastest Option

Traveling by boat downstream on rivers like the Danube was the fastest method, sometimes covering up to 150 kilometers in 24 hours.

Travel Speeds Were Generally Very Slow

Typical travelers, often delayed by weather, poor roads, or cargo, were generally happy to cover 100 kilometers in a week.

Daily life

Dark and smoky rural homes

Rural homes, known as Hallenhäuser, lacked chimneys; the open fire caused dark, smoky, and stuffy living conditions. Families often lived under the same roof as their livestock, sharing the space with generations and servants.

Difficult access to clean water

Accessing safe drinking water was difficult; people often relied on ditches or rivers, which were contaminated by sewage and waste. Some used specialized cisterns to collect rainwater for drinking, keeping it separate from non-potable water.

Food

Beer and Wine Instead of Water

Alcoholic beverages like beer and wine were consumed regularly instead of water, as local well water was often contaminated. Adults and children commonly drank beer, with residents of some regions consuming 2 to 3 litres daily.

Eating Porridge with Hands

Grain porridge was the most important hot meal, often made of oats or millet and reheated until thick. Families typically ate it by taking pieces directly from a central bowl with their hands.

Prices and wages
Around 1638–1638

Earnings of a farm hand in 1638

In 1638, a farm hand (Ackerknecht) in Werl earned 6 Reichsthalers in the summer and 5 in the winter, plus a pair of shoes each season.

Around 1639–1650

Wages paid in goods

By the mid-17th century, laborer contracts often included payment in kind, such as pairs of shoes, grain, or clothing, in addition to a daily or annual wage.

Work

Child labor in rural households

Children as young as five to nine often worked as servants, performing tasks like herding geese or goats, fetching water, and cleaning, which were essential to the family economy.

Around 1638–1645

Wages for daily laborers and mowers

Daily laborers were paid in specific coin and beer, such as 16 ß and 2 quarts of beer for mowing a morgen of wheat, sometimes receiving additional money for food.

News and letters

Preparing letters for travel

Letters were written on double sheets, sealed with wax, and the ink was dried with fine sand before being sent without an envelope.

Around 1625–1627

Delivering news via hand-copied sheets

In 1627, a courier requested 3 gulden for a year's service of delivering hand-copied news sheets from Gotha to a regional landowner.

During their lifetime

  1. 1654

    Demonstration of vacuum power

    Otto von Guericke demonstrated the power of a vacuum in Regensburg using sixteen horses to pull apart two sealed hemispheres.

  2. 1654

    Legally binding serfdom in Mecklenburg

    The Servants Law of 1654 legally anchored serfdom in Mecklenburg, divesting serfs of personal freedoms and allowing them to be sold with property.

  3. 1660

    Invention of the berlin carriage

    The carriage known as the berlin was developed in Berlin, quickly becoming the most popular horse-drawn vehicle of the century.

  4. 1685

    Huguenot migration to Brandenburg

    The Great Elector issued the Edict of Potsdam, inviting French Huguenot refugees to settle in Brandenburg and Berlin to help rebuild the economy.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.